LIVE | Venezuela under attack: Russia demands answers after Maduro captured during US military strike
2pm (SA time): Russia on Saturday demanded “immediate” clarification about the circumstances of the reported US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during an attack ordered by President Donald Trump.
“We are extremely alarmed by reports that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were forcibly removed from the country as a result of today’s US aggression. We call for an immediate clarification of the situation,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Russia condemned the US military action in Venezuela on Saturday, saying there was no tenable justification for the attack and that “ideological hostility” had prevailed over diplomacy.
2pm: The European Union has called for “restraint” and respect for international law in Venezuela on Saturday after President Donald Trump announced US forces had captured leader Nicolas Maduro in a large-scale assault.
“The EU has repeatedly stated that Mr Maduro lacks legitimacy and has defended a peaceful transition” in Venezuela, the bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas wrote on X after speaking with her US counterpart Marco Rubio.
“Under all circumstances, the principles of international law and the UN Charter must be respected. We call for restraint,” she wrote.
Kallas said the EU was closely monitoring the fast-moving situation and that she had spoken to the bloc’s envoy to Venezuela, with the safety of EU citizens “our top priority.”
1:58pm: Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said on Saturday his country “will overcome” a wave US military strikes, which Washington said also included the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.
Cabello, considered one of the most powerful men in Caracas, told a local television broadcast that “at the end of these attacks, we will overcome,” adding that “this is not our first battle against our people… we have managed to survive under all circumstances.”
12:30pm: A US senator has quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying the country’s military action against Venezuela was now complete, with Maduro having been arrested to “stand trial” in the US.
“He anticipates no further action in Venezuela now that Maduro is in US custody,” Senator Mike Lee, a Republican initially critical of the operation, wrote on X after what he said was a telephone call with Rubio.
12:20pm: Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on Saturday called on the United States to issue “proof of life” of leader Nicolas Maduro, who was captured by US forces, according to President Donald Trump.
Speaking by telephone to Venezuelan TV, Rodriguez said she did not know the whereabouts of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, following a series of US strikes on Caracas and other cities.
11:47am: Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino López has ordered a ‘massive deployment’ of the country’s military resources.
In addition, Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro says troops have been deployed to the Venezuela border following the US attacks.
11:45am: US President Donald Trump has reportedly stated that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been ‘captured and flown out’ of Venezuela, after the US initiated a ‘large-scale strike’ on the South American country in the early hours of Saturday.
Shortly thereafter, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X: “A new dawn for Venezuela! The tyrant is gone. He will now – finally – face justice for his crimes”.
In a brief phone interview with The New York Times, Trump hailed the “brilliant” operation.
“A lot of good planning and lot of great, great troops and great people,” the paper quoted Trump as saying. Trump is due to deliver a media briefing in Florida at 11am local time (6pm SA time).
In a TV address on Saturday morning, Venezuela’s vice-president admitted that Maduro’s whereabouts were unknown.
Trump’s claim of Maduro’s capture comes two days after Maduro attempted to engage with Trump, offering cooperation on fighting drug trafficking and illegal migration.
10am (SA time): President Maduro has declared a state of emergency over what his government called an “extremely serious military aggression” by the United States on the capital, Caracas. He also called on the country’s population to ‘mobilise’.
Loud explosions, accompanied by sounds resembling aircraft flyovers, were heard in Caracas around 2am Venezuelan time (8am SA time) on Saturday, an AFP journalist reported. Venezuela’s defence ministry has accused the US of bombing residential areas.
The explosions come as US President Donald Trump, who has deployed a navy task force to the Caribbean, raised the possibility of ground strikes against Venezuela.
Sounds of explosions were still being heard around 2:15am, although their exact location was unclear.
Trump on Monday said the United States hit and destroyed a docking area for alleged Venezuelan drug boats.
The Republican leader would not say if it was a military or CIA operation or where the strike occurred, noting only that it was “along the shore.”
The attack would be the first known land strike on Venezuelan soil.
President Nicolas Maduro has neither confirmed nor denied Monday’s strike, but said Thursday he was open to cooperation with Washington after weeks of US military pressure.
The Trump administration has accused Maduro of heading a drug cartel and says it is cracking down on trafficking, but the leftist leader denies any involvement in the narcotics trade, saying Washington is seeking to overthrow him because Venezuela has the largest known reserves of oil on Earth.
Washington has ramped up pressure on Caracas by informally closing Venezuela’s airspace, imposing more sanctions and ordering the seizure of tankers loaded with Venezuelan oil.
For weeks Trump has threatened ground strikes on drug cartels in the region, saying they would start “soon,” with Monday being the first apparent example.
US forces have also carried out numerous strikes on boats in both the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since September, targeting what Washington says are drug smugglers.
The administration has provided no evidence that the targeted boats were involved in drug trafficking, however, prompting debate about the legality of these operations.
The deadly maritime campaign has killed at least 107 people in at least 30 strikes, according to information released by the US military.
This is a developing story
IOL & AFP